Madrid Cable Car To Undergo Complete Renovation

A complete renovation of the cable car in Madrid is to be undertaken with new stations, cabins and technology.

Work will begin in the first quarter of 2025 and the cable car is scheduled to go into operation in early 2026

The cable car will be transformed into an attractive, accessible, modern and sustainable tourist attraction. The cabins will have greater capacity and better visibility.

As the mayor explained, a comprehensive renovation of the cable car will be carried out in order to "resolve the serious structural problems that led to its closure".

Almeida announced that thanks to a project "with an investment of 15 million euros, which provides for the renewal of the entire structure" of the cable car over the 2.5 km between the Pintor Rosales station and the Cerro Garabitas station, this leisure facility, which is "part of the sentimental memory of the Madrilenians", can be put back into operation at the beginning of 2026.

Next weeks, the municipal transport company (EMT Madrid) will publish the tender for the project to completely renovate Madrid's cable car in order to transform it into an innovative, sustainable and accessible infrastructure. The renovation and technology change will enable fully automatic and safe operation with high capacity, guarantee accessibility and offer users a high level of comfort. In addition, the cable car is an environmentally friendly means of transportation as it uses clean energy as a power source and has low noise emissions.

The cabins will have a capacity of ten seats (currently a maximum of six), with the exception of the cabins for people with reduced mobility, which will have eight seats and guarantee complete accessibility. Thanks to this renovation, the facility could be equipped with a capacity of up to 1,800 people per hour and, in addition, the new design will provide better visibility than the current cabins.

A historic infrastructure

The Madrid cable car was inaugurated in June 1969 by the then Mayor of Madrid, Carlos Arias Navarro. Construction work began in mid-1968 under the technical direction of the Swiss company Von Roll and under the supervision of the Ministry of Public Works and was completed within a year with an initial investment of 100 million pesetas.

The cable car has a length of 2,500 meters and has 80 cabins with space for six people. The installation has two stations, the drive station in Paseo del Pintor Rosales and the tensioning station in Cerro Garabitas, which is located in Casa de Campo. The ride lasts 11 minutes and takes you 40 meters above the ground, offering some of the best views of Madrid.